Quadro & FirePro vs. light gaming?

[etchouta]

Hi,

I am currently deciding on a new build and it looks like I will have to go with a professional/workstation card (FirePro or Quadro) since I will be doing a lot of photo editing and will be needing 10-bit through viewport for a single (possibility of upgrading to dual) Dell U2711 set-up (2560x1440 native).

I am curious about gaming performance with these types of cards? I have read articles and threads about the subject, but can't quite seem to find an answer. Games played would be Starcraft II and Diablo 3, very unlikely to be highly demanding games (ie. crysis in full). Woudl taht be doable or impossible (some threads had statements like "forget it" when it came to gaming with workstation cards).

I was also wondering if it is necessary for my needs to go with the top of the line professional cards, since I will not be doing any 3D work (but heavy Photoshop). I currenlty have a DVI display that I intend on using as a 2nd monitor, so a card with DVI (as opposed to 4 display ports) woudl be preferable. I also noticed that some of the workstation seem longer than the regular ones, so they migh not fit on all cases/mobo combos.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within the next month

BUDGET RANGE: $1500 GPU

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:Adobe CS5 suite, Video editing (not Premiere Pro), gaming, movies/media server

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Intended for new built, currently running MSI N275GTX on 600w

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: looking at completely new built, with i7-2600k, Z68 Mobo, 16Gb RAM, SSD main drive, modular PSU (haven't decided on which exact models yet).

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, ncix.com, tigerdirect

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: None

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE:Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION:2560x1440 to 5120x1440

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:Would it be better to keep my current set-up and upgrade a few components and have one gaming box and one workstation and switch the monitor cables depending on what I need to do (woudl require another OS license)?

Thanks!

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

The games you mentioned are more cpu reliant i believe than gpu.
About the need for a workstation card i'm not sure but i hear you can do almost the same with a normal one. ( it is the same card only with other drivers )
For the most programs you need a dx10, open gl gpu with 1 GB vram. I think i did read somewhere adobe likes cuda cores so NVidea would be better.

For Adobe Premiere CS5 Mercury Playback engine we recommend the nVidia GTX470/570+ or a Quadro 2000/4000 card.
For Avid Media Composer we recommend a minimum of a QuadroFX1800 or Quadro2000.
Sony Vegas does not benefit from GPU while editing, but Vegas 10 does offer some GPU accelerated rendering. So for Vegas 9 any good ATI or nVidia card with 768+
megs RAM will do. Vegas Pro 11 will support GPU and CUDA acceleration, so get a GTX470/570 or higher.
For consumer video editing apps like Pinnacle Studio we recommend an ATI or nVidia card with 768+ megs

http://videoguys.com/Guide/E/Video [...] 3a6c6.aspx

I know nothing from the 10 bit through viewport so can't help you there.

 

[etchouta]

From what I read, if I want the 10-bit output, only the Quadro and FirePro can provide it, so it looks like I have no choice but to go with a professional-type card. Otherwise, I would go for something like the GTX470/570 suggestions...